


7 times someone found out about Gabriel Tam, +1 time they did something about it

by PassedThroughFire



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: 7 + 1, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Autistic Simon Tam, Crew as Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everybody Lives, Eye contact is hard y'all, Gabriel Tam's shitty parenting, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Multi, Nightmares, Physical Abuse, Post-Serenity (2005), Serenity is vaguely mentioned, Simon Whump, Whump, autistic River Tam, river does call malcom daddy but i promise it is not in that way, tw abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27058378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PassedThroughFire/pseuds/PassedThroughFire
Summary: Gabriel Tam doesn't have the best style of parenting, and the crew of Serenity slowly finds this out.
Relationships: Gabriel Tam & Regan Tam & River Tam & Simon Tam, Gabriel Tam & Simon Tam, Hoban Washburne/Zoë Washburne, Inara Serra & River Tam, Inara Serra & Simon Tam, Jayne Cobb & Simon Tam, Kaylee Frye & River Tam, Kaylee Frye/Simon Tam, Malcolm Reynolds & River Tam, Malcom Reynolds & Simon Tam, Nandi/Malcom Reynolds/Inara Serra, River Tam & Simon Tam, Shepherd Derrial Book & River Tam, Simon Tam & Hoban Washburne, Simon Tam & Serenity Crew, Simon Tam & Zoë Washburne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	7 times someone found out about Gabriel Tam, +1 time they did something about it

**Zoe**

Zoe was first to suspect. With River it was hard to tell what caused the flinching. That gorram prison that called itself a school had scrambled her brains through hell and back, so Zoe was never quite sure if the girl was flinching at ghosts or anything else. Her brother was another story. She saw the way he blinked too fast at a hand that came up too sharp, or how his shoulders would pull closer to his neck at loud noises. The way his eyes would glaze over if Jayne yelled at him but would be alight with protective fury if the gunslinger so much as rose his voice in River's direction.

She chose not to comment on it and didn't think much of it, until one night she found Simon in the cargo bay, standing in front of Jayne's punching bag, a piece of paper in hand, some tape in the other. She walked up to him, taking note of how he didn't seem to notice. She looked down at the paper, raised an eyebrow, and looked back at the boy. 

"You're welcome to use it, just don't be lifting without a spotter."

Simon jumped what seemed like five feet back.

"I wasn't doing-" he paused when he saw it was her. "Oh… It's um, it's just you." He seemed to shake himself out of a daze. Zoe wasn't fazed. 

"What's the paper for?"

"Hm? Oh! Nothing, nothing just… notes." He crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it off to the side.

"Can't have been important notes then." She raised an eyebrow, leaning on the wall. "You're up awful late."

"I, um, I could say the same thing about you."

"But you won't."

"... No..it's not my business… Good night Zoe."

"Night doc." She waited till he was gone and picked up the paper ball, unfolding it until it was open. There was a word scratched over that she couldn't make out, but under that was the name, Gabriel. She didn't know a Gabriel. She didn't know that any of the others knew a Gabriel. Maybe an old enemy from med school he fought over the top spot with. She returned it to its ball shape and tossed it over her shoulder before heading back to bed.

* * *

**Wash**

Wash could tell something was up with the kids. Specifically Simon. One night, he’d had a minor headache, and had gone to the infirmary for some pain relief, and unsurprisingly, he had found the young doctor there. But he was different. Rather than methodically organizing the infirmary or taking inventory, the older Tam resembled his sister, knees hugged tight to his chest as he stared at the empty operating table. Wash knocked twice on the doorframe, wincing at his own noise. He chuckled and stepped inside.

"What've we got here, doctor? An invisible alien patient? Certainly an upgrade from the cow fetus," he teased the boy, relaxing some when Simon smiled, rather than falling off the bench like he'd expected. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah just uh, couldn't sleep. What about you, is there something I can, I can help with?" He seemed more anxious than usual. How that was even possible, Wash didn't know.

"Nothing major, just a headache, you got anything for that?"

Simon gladly went up to one of the cupboards, pulling down a little bottle of pills and handing one to Wash. 

"This should help. It should kick in after 10 minutes or so." He returned the bottle to the shelf. Wash nodded and swallowed the pill. 

"Thanks, kid. You should get some sleep, wouldn't want you falling asleep through surgery." Wash patted his shoulder or at least tried to, if not for Simon pulling away, almost violently so, his hands flying in front of his chest. Wash hesitated for a bit and lowered his hand. "... Uh, right… G'night kid."

"... Good… good night Wash."

If Wash had trouble getting back to sleep that night, thinking of how wide Simon’s eyes had gone, how he’d shrunk, well, nobody needed to know.

* * *

**Jayne**

Much as one might think it, Jayne weren't no idiot. Sure he weren't the best with fancy words and numbers like the doc or his crazy sister, but he knew fear when he saw it. With the girl, it was just plain annoying, she was scared of everything or nothing and that was just no fun. He also knew anger. He'd been under the captain's evil eye more times than he preferred to bother counting. And usually whenever the gorram doc got all uppity about his sister, he could see both. That was entertaining to play with. 

It wasn’t till mail day that he actually started thinking about it. He grinned as he pulled up a scarf from his mama, matching his hat. 

“Aw ain’t that sweet. Mama Cobb send you that?” Kayle asked, brushing some of the packing straw off of it.

“Yeah. You get anything?”

“I got me a new part from my daddy, technically an old part but it’s cheaper than buying a new one, and I don’t gotta go around captain tight pants to get it.” She smirked over at Mal. Jayne snickered at that.

“Make the engine run purdy?”

“Sure will.” She nodded and looked over at the doc with those goo eyes again. He rolled his eyes as she asked em some question about what they got.

“Oh, nothing today,” the doc replied.

“Liar,” the crazy one said. The doc bit his lip and walked off in some direction Jayne didn’t care to think of, tucking a piece of paper in his pants. 

It was fun to watch the girl try and figure out how to eat an ice planet even after a few tries. It was less fun when they had to wait an extra ten minutes at the docking bay for her brother to come back.

“What took ya so gorram long?” Jayne growled when he saw the uptight bastard return. He’d be just fine with leaving him and his sister behind, but he knew the Captain was too soft to let that happen.

He saw Simon flinch at his voice. Good, learn to be on time.

“Sorry, sorry, just um, got distracted.”

Well, that was new. Boy never apologized to Jayne. Much less for being late. He noticed the paper in his hand.

“Thought you didn’t get anything.”

The doctor was avoiding eye contact, and Jayne was even more surprised when he was handed the damn thing. He looked at it, seeing some address he didn’t recognize, and the only name he recognized was the doc’s. But there was another name on there.

“Who the hell is Gabriel? Some Alliance buddy of yours?”

“... Something like that.” The doc looked around, checking that the two of them were still alone, then looked back at Jayne. “Actually, could, could you destroy that?”

“Huh?” Jayne looked up from the envelope. Simon looked pale, but he was clenching his fists the way they did when they had shouting matches.

“Please.”

“... Yeah, whatever. Go make goo-goo eyes at Kaylee or somethin’, I got this.”

Simon’s shoulders dropped right after, and Jayne could swear that he smiled when he walked off. Jayne waited till he was alone, then went to his bunk to read the letter. Gotta make sure there weren’t nothing incriminating in there, for the Captain. Right.

* * *

**Book**

Book had begun to worry about River. Not that he hadn’t before, the poor girl’s mind had been played with beyond reason, but as of late, she’d been more angry and present since Mail day. 

He’d heard quiet thumping that came from the cargo bay some nights, and more than once he’d thought about going out to check on her, but he hadn’t really had the energy to take his hair out of his do-rag(That was a time and a half) only to tie it back up so as to not scare the girl with his afro. He still wasn’t sure why it scared her so. Maybe she just didn’t like change. Either way, he had left well alone, until she came to him.

The others had been out in town, grabbing some supplies, and he’d offered to stay on the ship with Kaylee and River since he’d given Wash the shopping list.

She knocked on his door while he was reading.

“Come in,” he called gently.

“Needs fixing,” River’s voice came from the doorway. He sighed and looked up at her.

“River, we went over this, it’s…” He stopped when he saw her hands. More to the point, her knuckles. He put down his book and went over, inspecting them to make sure they weren’t infected.

“Needs fixing, no callous,” she repeated.

“Right, I see. I don’t think we need the infirmary for this, I've got basic first aid supplies in my things.” He walked back into his room, hearing her sit down on the bed. He pulled out some antiseptic and bandages. “Out of curiosity, what were you doing?”

“Punching.”

“Not anyone we know, I hope.”

“Just the bag.”

“Ah, well, next time I’ll show you how to wrap your hands so this doesn’t happen again.” He poured some antiseptic out onto a rag, carefully rubbing it over her bloodied knuckles.

“Twenty-seven bones in one hand against 100 pounds of sand, bones win." She flexed her fingers.

“... Yes, I suppose they do.”

“Fifty-four bones against Gabriel, bones should win.” He stopped and looked at her.

“Who’s Gabriel?”

She shook her head. “Gabriel against Simon, Simon should win.”

He sighed and continued disinfecting her cuts. Maybe he’d ask Simon about it later.

* * *

**Inara**

Inara had nearly fallen asleep when a knock brought her out of her haze, followed by one hushed, shaky voice, and another airy, more caring voice. She tied her robe around her waist, coming towards the door.

“-ei Mei it’s fine, I just-”

“‘Nara’s smart with this, be nice.”

Inara opened the door to see the two siblings she’d come to adore. 

“Good evening you two, is there-”

“It’s nothing, nothing, sorry for bothering you, I’ll just-” Simon moved to go, but River had a strong grip on her brother’s hand. The young girl didn’t bother making eye contact as she spoke.

“Bad things go bump in the night.”

“Bad things? Is everyone alright?” Inara looked around, not noticing any signs of distress, other than Simon’s eagerness to go. He sighed and turned to her.

“Everyone’s fine, everyone is asleep, and, we, uh, disturbed yours, so we will be going now.” He tried to tug away from River.

“Gabriel hurt Simon’s brain.” 

Simon froze where he stood, his cheeks flushing in shame. River still didn’t make eye contact, choosing instead to look up at the arch of the entrance into Inara’s shuttle.

The companion raised an eyebrow. She’d heard that name before. She couldn’t place it right now but it didn’t matter.

“He hurt your brain? Do you need the infirmary? I’m not as good as you with medicine but-”

“I’m fine.” The way the boy’s voice cracked indicated that that was clearly not the case. Now that he was frozen in place, and not trying to walk away, Inara really got a good look at him, seeing the hastily wiped tears that remained on his face, his usually well-combed hair all fussed up from sleep, his rumpled, sweat-stained pajamas. And River looked more at ease than her brother, which while it was good to see her calm, in contrast with Simon, it was worrying.

Oh. That kind of hurt.

“Well I’m already up, would you like some tea?” She stood to the side, inviting the siblings in. River let go of Simon finally and gladly tiptoed in, feeling the soft carpet beneath her bare feet. Simon hesitated a little. Inara stepped slowly, closer to him. “I get them too. We all do. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“... Thank you. That sounds nice.” He nodded, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves as he followed her into the shuttle.

The three of them spent the night telling each other stories, reminiscing on moments with the rest of the crew, even doing impressions. River’s were scarily accurate. Inara’s were amusing. Simon’s were hilariously abysmal.

By the time they’d fallen asleep on her couch, Inara was maybe considering going and searching up a Gabriel in her system, but there were too many names to count, so for now, she settled for draping a blanket over the two of them and finally heading off to sleep.

* * *

**Kaylee**

“Aw C’mon Si, you know he don’t mean nothin,” Kaylee kept herself from chuckling as Simon leaned against the operating bed.

Simon and the Captain had recently gotten into a big old shouting match. This time was different though since it wasn’t a disagreement over River, or getting into trouble off the ship. Of all things, the Captain had tried to lecture Simon about how late he was staying up in the infirmary. 

It wasn’t rare for Kaylee to receive similar lectures, and they always ended the same way, with her rolling her eyes and listening to the Captain go on and on about the ‘sleeping habits of young’uns’ before assuring him she’d sleep through the day tomorrow. He’d grumble about how that wasn’t any good to the ship, but he’d leave it be after that.

That was not at all how it had gone with Simon. Simon had immediately gotten defensive, saying that it wasn’t any of Mal’s business as to how late he stayed up, that it was his gorram fault that they had such low supplies, and they’d just started going off on each other, ending with Mal storming out of the infirmary, looking about ready to kill something. Kaylee had come in 10 minutes after the screaming ended. She’d found Simon shaking, presumably with anger, as he obsessively rearranged the supplies. She’d managed to get him to cool down and stick to some pacing while she sat on the bench, picking at a thread in her coveralls.

“I mean, rutting hypocrite, telling me I’m staying up late. Who does he think he is? My father?! What’s he gonna do next? Lock me in the passenger dorm for days on end and not let me out till I relent? I’m an adult, fuck’s sake. He’s not my gorram father.” He clenched the sleeves of his shirt. Kaylee raised an eyebrow.

“Did he do that?”

“No, I mean it’s his ship, he can-”

“No, I… Your daddy did he…” She trailed off, imagining a much younger Simon in the dark of his room, alone.

Simon paused in his pacing, raising an eyebrow. “Lock me in my room?”

“Yeah.” 

“... Well, yeah… Nothing compared to when he got truly angry, or their reputation was at stake, but yeah.” He said it so nonchalantly.

“... Mal wouldn’t do that,” she settled on. He chuckled bitterly.

“No, of course not, he’ll just threaten to throw me off his ship.” She smiled at that.

“Aw you know he don’t mean it.” Simon sighed and ran a hand down his face.

“Yeah. I know…” He rubbed his eyes.

“Y’know, I ain’t seen you in your room lots recently. D’ya think maybe the Captain just noticed too? Maybe doesn’t want you sleepin on the job,” she prompted him. He seemed to relax at that.

“Yeah. Maybe”

She went on over to him and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll letcha know when they’re callin us for dinner.”

“Thanks, Kaylee.” He kissed her cheek. “You’re the best.”

“Yeah I know,” she teased him. “Love you!” She sauntered out of the infirmary and down to the engine room.

* * *

**Mal**

Mal sat on the bridge, alone with his thoughts, a letter in hand. It wasn’t for him. It sure as hell hadn’t been for Jayne. Honestly, it was a miracle it had even found its mark. Though granted, miracle wasn’t the word Mal would use. More like twisted. The contents of that letter made him want to turn the ship around, fly to Osiris, and throttle Gabriel Tam till kingdom come. He knew he couldn’t do that so he settled for the next best thing, carrying out Simon’s request that had originally fallen to Jayne. He shredded the damn thing, and next time they were planetside, he planned on burning the pieces.

For now though, as he stuffed the pieces in his pocket, he came into the dining hall, finding Jayne and Simon arguing. Nothing unusual, until he saw Jayne raise a hand to Simon.

"Jayne!" Mal barked out before the taller man could take a swipe at the doc, who was shaking in his shoes. Jayne growled and stalked off. By the time Mal had turned to look back at Simon, the doctor was already off on his way out of the kitchen.

Mal hung back a bit, debating who it'd be best to speak to first. With that letter, he was seeing things in a new light. Not one he much wanted to see the doctor under. He sighed. Jayne had read that letter too, and nothing had changed. So he figured the young doctor was his best bet. He took a second to calm himself, then walked down to the passenger dorm. He was thankful when he passed River in the hallway. He didn't know if he could handle two upset kids. She looked at him before they passed each other.

"Simon needs Daddy." 

Mal sighed and paused in his walking. "I dunno that he does."

"Gabriel plays with bones, twenty-seven in the hand, eight broken before. Can't play with bones, plays with his brain instead."

He crossed his arms and sighed again. "One of these days I'm gonna understand what you're saying."

"Daddy understands. He doesn't want to." With that ominous statement, the younger Tam walked back down the hall.

Mal stayed there for a second, pondering her words. Thankfully he didn't ponder too long and continued on his way to the dorm.

When he got there, he was surprised that Simon was in fact there, and not holed up in the infirmary like he usually was. Mal knocked on the door frame. Simon jumped. He hated that.

Simon stood and didn't meet Mal's eyes. "Are you here to lecture me again? Or are we gonna get straight to the punching this time?"

"I ain't gonna hit you, son." Mal didn't move from the door.

Simon scoffed. "Sure, sure, you'll just read my private property."

Damn. Jayne and his big mouth.

"If I recall, you gave it to Jayne." He kept his voice calm, the way he did like in business.

"If _I_ recall, I asked him to destroy it!" The same could not be said for the young doctor.

" Which you gotta know by now is awful suspicious, and frankly a dumb move to give it to Jayne."

"Oh no, I should just hand it to you personally so you know there's not a bomb in there. Or a tracker or whatever." He was wringing his hands. He pulled in on himself as Mal walked into the room. "But, but, secrets aren't allowed on your ship, are they? So what, are you going to throw me and River off the ship, like you keep saying? Or are you here to punish me yourself for acting so weak with Jayne, or-"

"Doc. Air's a precious commodity, I'd appreciate it if you bothered to use it."

Simon shook his head, confused. "What?"

"Breathe, boy. Don't think I heard you do so in the past minute with all that yammering." He didn't touch Simon, who thankfully, did take a moment to breathe. "There. Now, I am a might angry, but for once it ain't you I'm troubled with."

That only seemed to panic the doctor, so Mal worked quick. "No, no, it ain't your sister. Passed her on the way here. She's worryin bout you for a change."

Simon sighed in relief and sat down on the bed. Mal stayed standing. "I did read it. There weren't no tracker but you know that. I did what you asked." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of paper scraps. 

Simon relaxed at that, glad he wouldn't have to look at it again. 

"I suppose I should thank you-"

"I appreciate that but I ain't done." Mal put the pieces back in his pocket. "I gotta admit, I was half thinkin of tellin Wash to fly this ship up to Osiris, I'd like to give your Pa a good talkin to. Tell 'im what you've done out here, for us, for your sister."

Simon deflated at that and put his head in his hands. "He wouldn't care. It doesn't matter what I've done or haven't done, he cares about his and my mother's reputation-"

"I know. He mentioned some awkward dinner parties." He held back a chuckle.

Simon rolled his eyes and clenched his fists. "You know the first time I tried to get River out, he bailed me out, lectured me about missing one. Thankfully that was all he did but still, I kept expecting him to hit me, the way I talked back."

"What'd you tell 'im?” Mal leaned on the wall. 

Simon paused and chuckled. "I told him ' I would never have tried to save River's life if there was a dinner party at risk.' He... He was livid. When I next came home, I…"

Mal frowned. "He hit you?" Simon bit his lip and held up his left hand. Mal took a closer look, now seeing some scarring on his fingers. "He broke em." It wasn't a question. Simon still nodded. "I fixed them, easily. But still."

"Your Pa ain't got the right to have the title."

Simon chuckled. "River just calls him Gabriel. She used to call him Father. After we left it was just Gabriel."

"She mentioned him, just now really, when I saw her. Said something bout bones and brains."

"Yeah, that sounds like her." Simon sighed. 

"Yeah. Next time we're planetside, I'm gonna burn these here scraps. You think of anything else needing destroying, you let me know, yeah?" Mal got off the wall, standing over the doctor.

Simon nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'll let you know."

"Good. Tell that sister of yours to come up with a new nickname for me. She'll know what it means." He ruffled Simon's hair, chuckling at the boy's indignation.

He did not appreciate River lurking outside the room with a smile. "Daddy keeps his nickname."

"And the little albatross is a sneak." He ruffled her hair too and made his way up to the bridge.

* * *

**The Tams.**

It had been a few months since Mal and Simon had burned what was left of Gabriel Tam’s letter. And for the most part, life had returned to normal. Occasionally, Simon and River would spend a few nights with Inara after a bad job. Wash was hesitant to touch either of them at first, but Kaylee had explained that as long as they knew it was coming, it seemed fine. Jayne and Kaylee remained the same as always. Book never did end up asking Simon about River’s words, letting them fade into distant memories. Zoe kept a slightly closer eye on them, taking note of the days Simon seemed more tired. Mal was a little softer on the pair of them, less threatening to throw them off the ship.

Life was good for a while.

Sadly, it couldn’t last.

It had been a normal job on one of the core planets. Not even a job really, just a drop-off. Simon had wanted to stretch his legs just a little, see how the core planets were dealing with the information the crew had broadcasted from Miranda a while ago. He had been distracted when he’d been knocked out.

* * *

River had been trying to run off into the city all afternoon. There was only so much that Inara and Kaylee could do to keep her on the ship. They didn’t think much of it until Mal and the others returned looking all upset. Kaylee spoke before the others could.

“Where’s Simon?”

“We were hoping you’d know,” Wash supplied, not leaving his spot on the mule. Mal cursed and rubbed his eyes. 

“That kid’s gonna give me a gorram heart-attack one day.”

“Gabriel’s in the city.” River looked up at him from the ground. A majority of the crew tensed up immediately, save Kaylee and Wash. 

“Who’s Gabriel, what does he have to do with this?” Wash looked at his wife.

“A no-good, alliance supporting, abusive, _ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng_ (Frog humping son of a bitch),” Mal growled, looking back around.

“You know who he is, sir?” Zoe cocked her head to the side. 

“He’s a shit bag,” Jayne supplied oh so helpfully.

“10.5 pints, 5 liters of blood in an adult male’s body… 10.45… 10.30” River became increasingly more distressed as she listed numbers.

“Wash, Kaylee, ‘Nara, y’all stay here, prep the infirmary, keep her safe, we’ll radio if we need backup,” Mal ordered, loading his gun and taking Wash’s now empty seat on the mule. “We ain’t leaving without ‘im.”

The three of them headed off in the mule, trying to get a location from Simon’s radio that Kaylee had persuaded him to bring along.

“Sir, just so we’re clear here, and you seem to have a better idea than the rest of us, who’s Gabriel?” Zoe kept her eyes on the radar.

“He’s the doc’s daddy,” Jayne growled from the back seat, checking his guns and making sure they were loaded.

“Probably didn’t want the boy out there puttin more spots on the family record,” Mal added. “Got anything?”

“A warehouse, bout 20 miles from here,” Zoe replied, finally looking up.

“How high can she go?” Jayne asked.

“Time to find out.” Mal rose the mule above the heads of the people and rose it as high as it could go. “Just hold on, boy.”

* * *

Simon woke to the sounds of arguing and the uncomfortable feeling of ropes against his skin.

“-he looks so uncivilized!”

“Sir, we found him looking like that. Well, minus a few injuries I guess.” A voice chuckled in such a way that Simon felt like he was back on the ship with Jayne.

Wait. Wait shit where was he. He shook his head out of his stupor, trying to take in his surroundings. He grimaced as he came to realize he had what would turn into a black eye.

“Oh! Excellent, he’s awake, you all can go, stand guard, or something.” He froze when he finally recognized that voice. He didn’t look up, he didn’t move, he didn’t breathe. He barely registered that the thugs had left. 

Suddenly, there was a stinging pain in his right cheek. He registered that perfectly and he finally looked up, barely being able to muster a glare.

“Hello, my boy.” Gabriel looked down at him with that smile. That fake, lying smile that Simon hated so much

He kept his glare, not moving to make a word. The smile dropped within seconds.

“I see you’ve lost your manners. Not surprising, you’ve been fraternizing with criminals and independents.”

“I could say the same for you. What, couldn’t get your alliance buddies to come get me?”

“YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY!” Another slap. Simon winced with it, but it was clear by the fourth slap that Gabriel was not getting the reaction he wanted. Simon chuckled, spitting out blood. 

“Y’know, I’ve been shot. A few times actually. You can’t hurt me anymore.” It was a lie, but Simon took comfort in his own words. He did not take comfort in Gabriel’s snarl, and when he went to open the door, letting open one of the thugs.

“Maybe not, but you need to be punished. Your mother and I can’t have you going around besmirching our good name.” 

The thug chuckled, and Simon couldn’t deny the fear that coursed through him as he was untied from the chair. He tried to lunge for the door, but he was quickly knocked to the floor, his shirt practically ripped off him on the way down. One of the buttons hit him in the face. The man who had stopped him went back out and Gabriel stood over him. 

“I believe now is where you eat your words, son. Remember, this is for the good of the family.” 

Simon tensed as he heard the familiar sound of a belt buckle. He barely had time to think before the leather came down on him, bringing out a scream.

If he looked back on that day, Simon was somewhat ashamed to say that he didn’t remember many details in regards to what happened after that.

* * *

Mal and the others though, they remembered that whole ordeal in grim detail.

They had parked the mule on the roof of the warehouse and had left quickly, hurrying down into the facility until they heard it. Screaming. Guttural, horrified, heart-wrenching screaming. It was Jayne who found the guarded, slightly ajar door. Zoe gunned them down easy and the three of them rushed in. 

Simon was writhing and sobbing on the floor as a leather belt was brought down against his bare torso, by a man who looked, scarily, like a much, much older Simon. Mal barely kept himself from killing the man then and there, and shot him in the leg instead, being careful not to hit Simon. He got a sick satisfaction from the way Gabriel cried out. 

Jayne tried to surge forward, probably to carry out what Mal wanted to do but was quickly called over by Zoe, who was wrapping her coat around Simon. The boy resembled his sister in their early days on the ship, eyes wide and unfocused, tears falling down his face and mixing with blood. Mal hated it, but for now, he went and looked down at Gabriel.

“I don’t think I gotta make it too clear what I’ll do to you if you try and get up just now,” he growled, pointing his gun at the man. “You ain’t gonna do this again. You ain’t allowed near em, you ain’t allowed to tell nobody this went on, you ain’t allowed to talk about them to nobody.”

Gabriel looked… pathetic. He was not worthy of his children, he should not have been allowed the honor of being called their father.

“And if you ever, and I mean ever, send another one of them letters our way again, I will personally track you down and see that my friends here each get one of your fingers, seeing as you like breakin em. Am I understood?”

Gabriel nodded mutely.

“Good. You stay on the ground till we are gone, I see you again before we leave, the next shot goes through your brain.”

“Mal.” Zoe calmly beckoned him over. Mal holstered his gun and picked up Simon’s shirt.

“Jayne, you see him get up, you shoot him,” he ordered the man. Jayne nodded with a grin.

“Yessir.”

Gabriel didn’t get up. Mal wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or not.

* * *

As soon as they got up to the roof, they were luckily met with the good view of Serenity, hovering there for them already. River had probably convinced them to fly over, or if she hadn’t, she’d done it herself.

Mal carried a steadily bleeding young doctor into the infirmary as Zoe went to the bridge to brief her husband on the situation and Jayne parked the mule in the cargo bay.

Kaylee and River were waiting in the infirmary, as well as Inara. River went pale as she saw her brother and immediately started shaking.

“ ‘Nara, get her outta here, Kaylee, get Zoe down here fast.”

Both women moved without a word to him. Inara carefully guided River out of the infirmary, quietly comforting the young girl.

Zoe arrived quickly, pulling off her leathers and switching them out for the apron usually used by Simon.

The boy in question was shivering on the operating bed, staining the cloth red, blood running down from the welts that covered his torso.

Zoe and Mal worked quickly, cleaning the wounds and bandaging them without causing Simon too much distress.

Once all that was done, they tried to get some information out of him, who else he saw, why he was taken, but he just shook his head and held himself. Jayne had even taken pity on the kid, awkwardly bringing over one of his t-shirts that looked way too big on Simon, but it was better than trying to get that collared shirt back on him. Zoe gave a small smile before dismissing Jayne, giving him the directions to their next job to deliver Wash.

Everyone felt a lot more at ease when they were off-planet, heading back out to the outer rim.

Zoe, once she was satisfied that his wounds wouldn't get infected, gave Mal a quick nod and headed up to the bridge to be with her husband.

Mal stayed behind, making sure Simon wasn’t about to start screaming and all that.

Simon didn’t stay awake for long. He just dipped in and out of consciousness. Unfortunately for Mal, occasionally he did wake up screaming but was quickly calmed with a few words and a promise he was on the ship.

Mal sat there until Simon had been asleep for a good two hours without waking up, and he carried the boy once more, to his room, making sure nobody was looking when he tucked him in.

Mal made his way to Inara's shuttle, hearing Kaylee and River in there as well. He knocked for once, figuring he could tease Inara later.

"Come in."

He walked inside, looking first and foremost at River.

"He's okay. Zoe knows what she's doin. Nothin fatal, life-threatening, just scared him a good bit. He's sleepin now, in his own bed. Y'all… just be careful with him."

River hurried past him, Kaylee following shortly after, neither of them sparing him a glance. He sighed and went to sit down with Inara.

“He’s okay?” She sat next to Mal, pouring him a cup of tea. 

“... He will be… Eventually.”

* * *

River sat curled up in a chair while Kaylee laid in the bed with Simon, holding him close.

“Daddy worries,” she murmured, letting her eyes rest on the floor. Kaylee looked up at the younger girl.

“Weren’t it your daddy that did this to him?” She kept her voice low, trying not to wake Simon.

River shook her head.

“Gabriel, named for the angel, means ‘God is great.’ There is no God for Regan and Gabriel, no children or angels, only words and bones, teeth… teeth and schools and money.” River wiped away some tears as she looked up at the ceiling. “Used to be God for daddy, but the valley took it.”

“Gabriel is our father’s name.”

Kaylee jumped as she saw Simon had woken up, avoiding eye contact with her. She gave a relieved little laugh.

“Hey, you.” She kissed his cheek. He gave a weak smile and finally met her eyes.

“Hi… “ He moved to kiss her but winced at his own movement. “Ow,” he hissed.

“Careful there, bandages’n all.” Kaylee gently eased him back down. “Reckon I oughta get you anything?”

Simon shook his head. “No, no I’m okay. Thank you… um… Where are we?”

“Oh! Back out in space, headed back to the outer rim, Wash was anxious something fierce, felt like I was on the mule we done pulled out so fast,” Kaylee eagerly told him. He smiled as she told him what he had missed, and they both ignored the drying tears on her face. 

River stayed happy in her chair, eventually leaving the pair of them to talk and sleep. She made her way out onto the walkway above the cargo bay. She sat down, swinging her feet back and forth. 

She had felt Simon’s pain ever since they were little. Not in that way, just in her head. For a long time, she had been scared that Gabriel’s anger would infect her brain like a parasite, but Simon made sure that didn’t happen, the way he cared for her, even before the Academy. She’d always felt helpless, the way Gabriel treated Simon, and she couldn’t do anything about it, aside from trying to appease him, keep him happy. Then the academy came, and they broke her and put her back together wrong. And Simon saved her again and cared for her again, only this time there was no Gabriel. But there was. Simon was the one holding the parasite. It roared when Jayne yelled. It bared its teeth when Wash touched him too fast. It bit into him with Daddy’s anger. She felt it, and in a small act of cognizance, would not react. Except for the bad days, where she couldn’t help it. But on the other days, she would not react, not let Simon get more hurt and exhaust himself staying up late to take care of her. She did her best to take care of him, and after Miranda, she had been able to try. But she still needed him. And he needed her too. But they had Daddy now, and the others. 

“Hey, little Albatross.” She didn’t look up as Daddy came and sat beside her. “How’s he doing?”

“He hears stories. A pressure coil colored pink.”

Mal gave a small smile. “Kaylee’s got him?” He got a nod in response. “He’s awake?” Another nod. “Good. Good. Might need to have a quick talk with him before he goes to bed. ‘Nara says you’re welcome to hang out with her, braid hair, paint nails’n such.”

“Stories.”

“Yeah.” He watched her get up and go to the Companion’s shuttle. He smiled, glad things were somewhat back to normal on his ship.

Later that night, after much persuasion and assurance that he’d be okay, Kaylee left Simon for the night to sleep in her own room. It was maybe 10 minutes before Mal knocked, not waiting for an answer before walking in. Simon looked down at the blankets, not wanting to look at the captain, who sat in the chair River had occupied. The pair of them sat in silence for some time, neither really wanting to acknowledge the day's events, despite knowing they had to.

Mal finally spoke up.

“Zoe did a decent job?”

“Yes, she, she did great…” Simon nodded, keeping his eyes on the sheets. Mal got up and sat on the end of the bed.

“It ain’t shameful. What you went through today.” 

Simon shook his head, embarrassment coloring the blush on his cheeks.

Mal sighed. "We didn't gun him down if you were worryin bout that. Jayne was a might disappointed not to get to but I figured that might complicate things."

“Can… Can we please not talk about him anymore unless we have to?”

“I can live with that.” Mal nodded, finally facing the doctor. “There ain’t no shame in fear.”

“There’s shame in uselessness.”

“Well it’s a good thing you ain’t useless then, isn’t it?”

Simon smiled a little, so Mal considered that a win.

“Your sister worried. Kaylee did too. Hate to admit it but we all did. You’re on my crew, I gotta make sure you stay with us.”

“You don’t have to-”

“No, I do. I told you before, your pa don’t deserve that title. You’re on my crew. We look out for each other. You’ve patched us all up many a time. Least we could do was what we did today.” Mal made eye contact with Simon. “I ain’t letting him come near you, either of you, that ain’t gonna happen again. I told him if he tries it, I’d shoot him, or better yet, I’d let Jayne do it.”

Simon sniffled and looked back down. Mal moved forward and gently pulled Simon in for an awkward hug. “You’re not going anywhere, kid. I ain’t letting you.”

The floodgates opened. Simon just cried, silently sobbing into the captain’s chest, hoping that nobody was outside the door. But even that embarrassment, that shame melted away as he let out all that fear and anger, let someone else take care of him for once.

It was about a half-hour or so until Simon finally wore himself out, and fell asleep against Mal. Mal sighed and let the boy sleep. He looked towards the door, finding River loitering there. He shifted a little, rolling his eyes as he beckoned her in. She smiled and clambered up onto the bed, curling up on Mal like a gorram cat.

“Goodnight daddy.”

“Yeah yeah, get some sleep Albatross.”

And if the next morning, everyone that walked by the Tams' room found the three of them sleeping peacefully, well, nobody had to know.


End file.
